Lately nothing sucks more than being a worker for anyone else other than myself. I almost arrive to the point where I don’t give a single damn to any career demand before my eyes. I make money for a living. That is so true but my heart is dying. Either it is because of extreme boredom or too much pressure but I’d like to see how this low point could be the force I badly need to move to the world I wish to live in: writing world. Disappointment after disappointment is arising. Pressure and stress could do good when you need challenges but as it goes further, you may find yourself drowned in the pool of demands and critique.
So this is May Day. And as an aspiring writer, I told you how much I want to break free from the routines I have. I do need a break. I want to work on my own as a writer, and sadly enough they won’t understand and the system won’t allow me to do that.
Hence I need to have the exit strategy. I want to be a writer. I want to work on my own.
That means I must be self-disciplined. I need to work with ultimate passion. And most importantly, what lures me so much about being a writer is the freedom it offers. You don’t have to hear your boss ever again.
Maybe you need to listen to your clients, or editors, or critics but still it feels different because you can work in solitude. That’s invaluable.
On the video above, American author Ray Bradbury was asked on how much money he managed to make during his first years of being an author.
The author cum lecturer answered:”It varies. The first year I made nothing. The second year I made nothing. The third year I made 30 dollars. The fourth year I made 40 dollars. […] The fifth year I made 80 dollars. Sixth year I made 200. Seventh year I made 300. Eight year 1200. Ninth year 2000. Tenth year 4000. Eleventh year 8000.”
Another lecture attende asked him,”How does an artist keep going during those early years of low income?”
Bradbury quipped:”Just get a part-time job! Anything! Unless you’re a mad man, you can’t make do in the art field. You gotta be inspired, and mad and excited and love it more than anything else in the world. Any girl who doesn’t like what you’re doing is out of your life. And if any of your friends, male friends, make fun of you, go to to hell with that. Out! Out! And you can get rid of all of these at once immediately. No more Thanksgiving dinners! (cracks of laughter) It has to be this kind of… I have got to do it! I simply gotta do it! And if you’re not this excited, you can’t win!”
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